Thank You & & &

Cocoa's family sure surprised me on Sunday!  I knew my sermon was heavy-weight and had waved off one announcement and was hoping for short children's message.  So when Kathy asked to make an announcement and wouldn't tell me what it was about, I was like the rooster to the hen who wanted for some reason to lay an egg on the highway. "Well, then I'd lay it on the line and do it quick!"  What followed was a lot of love to me and thank you, thank you.  It continued all the way to my kitchen and as I unpacked cocoa and more cocoa :) as was again blessed.  Thank you. 

I ended up in the last blog with the pastor.  I am afraid today that too often we give points to the pastor in terms of pastoral care and not in terms of pastoral leadership.  The pastor is to visit hospitals and when it comes to session, to moderate the meetings but not lead them, or so we think.  

And the session, it is thought, then provides leadership.  However, as a tour of Richmond, VA will show, there are many statues of generals and not a one of a committee.  When we go to the Bible, instead of to the secular business arena, we will find the first “elders” being suggested by Moses’ father-in-law for assistance to Moses in a great work.  If a leader is to endure, if a bottleneck is to be avoided and a work is to expand, then there must be help and delegation.  Once the elders were appointed for helping Moses and all the Hebrews manage better, we don’t find the elders sitting in judgment on Moses like a Board of Directors or him asking their permission to do this or that. 

Now just to clarify, in Presbyterian polity the pastor is a member of the session and has a vote.  So he or she is not just a moderator but a member of the session who participates in its discusssion, work, and votes. 

As I bring up the elders with Moses let me at the same time say the Bible clearly commends to us that we are part of a body and one part is not sufficient unto itself.  So others’ gifts and viewpoints are needed.  There is wisdom, the Bible continues, in counselors.  We are not talking, then, about leaders without accountability.  But we are talking about leaders leading. 

And remember the Ephesian elders who wept and enjoined Paul, by virtue of their sense of the Holy Spirit, not to return to Jerusalem?  What did he do?  Returned to Jerusalem.  The conscience of the leader (and all of us) must always act ultimately in response to God.